BBC ON THIS DAY | 1 | 1975: Muhammad Ali wins 'Thrilla in Manila' About This Site | Text Only 1975: Muhammad Ali wins 'Thrilla in Manila' US boxer Muhammad Ali has retained the world heavyweight boxing championship after defeating his arch-rival, Joe Frazier, in their third and arguably greatest fight. The so-called "Thrilla in Manilla" lasted 14 rounds before Frazier's trainer, Eddie Futch, finally persuaded him to call it a day. Ali said the fight was "the closest thing to dying". From the first bell the action was furious. Ringside experts classed it among the finest heavyweight title bouts - if not the finest of them all. I didn't realise he was so great. He's a real, real fighter. Muhammad Ali The 25,000 fans crammed into Manila's Philippine Coliseum rose to their feet, cheering on Ali the champion, as he looked set for the kill. But each time "Smokin'" Joe fought back, dipping under the champion's longer reach.

By the 14th round, the challenger, tired and battered about the head, walked into a series of lefts and rights to the face and jaw and was knocked almost unconscious on his feet by 15 block-busting blows inside 45 seconds. He made it back to his own corner, still on his feet, but looking badly bruised about the head, with swellings to the left side of his forehead and under his right eye. His trainer called time but Frazier tried to protest. There was a moment of indecision in the stadium as the crowd waited to see whether he would return to the ring. Then came the announcement and there was total uproar as Ali's team leaped into the ring to congratulate their man. But Ali - who was staggering with exhaustion - fell to the canvas and had to be helped to his feet. He told a news conference afterwards: "I'm so tired I want to rest for a week. My hips are sore, my arms are sore, my side is sore, my hands are sore." He paid tribute to his challenger as "the toughest man in the world". "I couldn't have taken the punches he took. I would have given in long before.

" I didn't realise he was so great. He's a real, real fighter." Both men are said to be contemplating retirement. Ali was guaranteed $4.5m for his fourth defence since regaining the title against George Foreman in Zaire last year. Frazier, two years his junior, got $2m. Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier (3rd meeting) - BoxRec Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier (3rd meeting) From BoxRec Jump to: navigation , search Sports Illustrated Cover 1975-10-01 : Muhammad Ali 224½ lbs beat Joe Frazier 215½ lbs by RTD at 3:00 in round 14 of 15 Location: Araneta Coliseum, Barangay Cubao, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines World Boxing Association Heavyweight Title (4th defense by Ali) Contents The Thrilla in Manila Muhammad Ali & Joe Frazier with Don King The Thrilla in Manila was a boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier , fought at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City of the Philippines on October 1, 1975.

The bout is often ranked as one of the greatest fights of all-time and is the climax to the bitter rivalry between Ali and Frazier. Promoted by Don King , the Thrilla in Manila had a tremendous media following. The fight was shown on closed-circuit television in 380 locations in the United States and broadcast to 68 countries worldwide. Ali was guaranteed $4.5 million against 43% of the gross, while Frazier was guaranteed $2 million against 22%. Ali ended up with about $9 million and Frazier made roughly $5 million. The fight was scheduled for the morning to accommodate fans watching on closed-circuit television in the United States, which is 12 to 15 hours behind the Philippines. Pre-Fight The mood of the two fighters and their camps could not be further apart. In Ali's camp, the mood was jovial and lighthearted. According to Ali's longtime physician and cornerman Ferdie Pacheco , it was believed by Ali and his trainers that Frazier was washed up after his devastating loss to George Foreman and the relative ease with which Ali had defeated Frazier in their rematch.

The general consensus was that Ali was doing Frazier a favor, giving Joe one last big payday before sending him off into retirement. As a result, Ali did little training, instead concentrating on the torrid affair he was having with Veronica Porche and amusing the vast entourage that had come to be nicknamed the "Ali Circus". Later, when Ali's wife Belinda found out that Ali was not only carrying on this affair but was introducing Veronica as his wife, she flew to the Philippines and confronted Ali, causing yet another distraction. Frazier, meanwhile, was training with a grim and determined intensity. Frazier had a bitter hatred for Ali. He had never forgiven Ali for the spew of invective Ali had directed at him after they signed to fight each other in 1971. Ali labeled Frazier as an "Uncle Tom" and as the "White Man's Champion." Ali also labeled Frazier as an "ugly dumb gorilla", deriding him as an inarticulate physical specimen devoid of any intelligence.

Ali famously punched a rubber gorilla meant to represent Frazier during a press conference while saying "It's gonna be a chilla, and a killa, and a thrilla, when I get the Gorilla in Manila." The "Uncle Tom" and "White Man's Champion" remarks infuriated Frazier, who Ferdie Pacheco described as "nothing but raging black." Frazier was the son of a sharecropper from the deep South and a survivor of ghettos in New York and Philadelphia, to which he moved as a minor by himself to pursue boxing. He had certainly suffered prejudice and discrimination that Ali had never known. Furthermore, Frazier felt that Ali had betrayed him because Frazier had ardently supported Ali throughout his difficulties stemming from his refusal to enter the U.S. Army. Frazier supported Ali's attempt to have his boxing license restored and helped him financially during his exile from boxing, periodically giving Ali hundreds of dollars. The ad hominem attacks that Ali directed at Frazier were unforgivable according to Frazier. While Ali has since asserted that he did so in an attempt to promote their fights and increase the gate, Frazier always countered that it wasn't necessary because their purses were guaranteed.

Frazier and Ali's relationship and the lasting enmity that Frazier harbored for many years stems from this period of time. The Fight Ali lands a right against Frazier At 10:45 a.m. on October 1, 1975, the bell for the 1st round rang. Ali had previously told his trainers that he was going to "put a whuppin'" on Joe Frazier, and he started the fight looking to do just that. Frazier was known for starting fights slowly, and Ali came out looking to use that to his advantage. Rather than dance and use his speed to stay away from Frazier, Ali came out and walked flat-footed to the center of the ring and proceeded to unleash a flurry of combinations on Frazier. However, to the amazement of Ali and many watching, Frazier continued to come forward, intent on punishing Ali's body at close range, despite having to take more and more of the withering punishment Ali was dishing out in order to do so. As Ali began to tire, Frazier turned up his own offense and began punishing Ali to the body and the head with his trademark hooks.

By the sixth round, Frazier had staggered him in turn and seemed to be gaining control of the bout. At the beginning of the seventh round, Ali reportedly whispered in Frazier's ear, "Joe, they told me you was all washed up." Frazier growled back, "They lied." Frazier dominated the middle rounds. Ali tried to fend Frazier off with occasional flurries and spurts of manic activity. He even unsuccessfully tried to use the rope-a-dope technique that had defeated George Foreman nearly a year earlier, but it was all negated by Frazier's relentless assault and power. Between the terrific heat inside the stadium, Frazier's assault, and his own nonchalant training, it began to seem that Ali would wilt. Finally, in the tenth round, Frazier began to slow down and tire, and Ali slowly turned the tide. In the 11th round, he used his speed to dance more and to unload a series of fast combinations on Frazier, which severely disfigured his face by the end of the round, swelling Frazier's eyes to the point that nothing but a tiny slit remained open.

Throughout the 12th round, Ali continued to turn the momentum, increasingly overwhelming Frazier and using the fact that Frazier could no longer see his right hand coming to hit Frazier with one hard right after another. About a minute into the 13th round, Ali landed another blistering combination on Frazier, sending the injured fighter's mouthpiece flying into the crowd. In the 14th round, Frazier was almost blind as he stepped in and was met once more with punishing blows from Ali. It was later revealed that Frazier actually had a cataract in his left eye and, with the punishment from Ali closing his right eye, was effectively fighting blind in the last rounds of the fight. Eddie Futch , Frazier's trainer, decided to stop the fight between the 14th and 15th rounds. Frazier protested stopping the fight, shouting "I want him, boss" and trying to get Futch to change his mind. Futch simply replied, "It's all over. No one will forget what you did here today" and signaled to the referee to end the bout. Ali was therefore declared the victor.

He got up from his stool, raised his arm in victory, and then collapsed onto the canvas. He was completely spent. Ali claimed that this was the closest to dying he has ever been. At the post-fight press conference, Ali said, "Joe Frazier, I'll tell the world right now, brings out the best in me. I'm gonna tell ya, that's one helluva man, and God bless him." He then announced, "Joe Frazier is the greatest fighter in the world, next to me." Recognition Named the #1 Fight of All-Time by The Ring in 1996. ESPN's SportsCentury ranked the fight as the fifth greatest sporting event of all-time in 1999. Trivia The Philippines' first multi-level commercial shopping mall was named after Muhammad Ali as a tribute to his victory. The mall is named "Ali Mall" and is located in Araneta Center, Cubao, Quezon City right beside the Araneta Coliseum, which held the "Thrilla in Manila." Despite the name, the bout was not held in Manila, but in adjacent Quezon City. Both cities, however, are within the district of Metro Manila. President Ferdinand E.

Marcos, along with First Lady Imelda Marcos, were on hand to watch the event. President Marcos sponsored the fight's purse. The Philippines was under "Martial Law", declared by President Ferdinand Marcos, when the fight occurred. Quotes "It’s gonna be a thrilla, and a chilla, and a killa, when I get the Gorilla in Manila." - Ali speaking about the upcoming fight. "Man, I hit him with punches that'd bring down the walls of a city." - Frazier speaking about Ali after the fight. "I'm gonna tell ya, that's one helluva man, and God bless him". - Ali speaking about Frazier after the fight. References Muhammad Ali: Greatest fights of legend's career | SI.com Saturday June 4th, 2016 “I won't miss boxing. Boxing will miss me.” —Muhammad Ali (1942-2016) Muhammad Ali died on June 3, 2016 at the age of 74. As the world remembers him and his immeasurable legacy, we take a look back at his ten greatest fights.

He “shook up the world” against Sonny Liston in 1964. He rumbled in the jungle with the seemingly unstoppable George Foreman in 1974. He willed himself on against Joe Frazier in that Thrilla in Manila in 1975. Even as he aged and struggled, he pushed himself forward. Here are some of the greatest moments that The Greatest gave us inside the ring. Tags Muhammad Ali's 10 Greatest Fights: Ali vs. Leon Spinks, Sept. 15, 1978 Share Richard O'Brien Saturday June 4th, 2016 On paper, it’s not much of a win: A 36-year-old former champion with a 55–3 record takes a decision over a smaller, younger foe who’s appearing in just his ninth pro fight. But this was Ali and the stakes and the moment were far beyond those mundane particulars. Seven months earlier, Spinks, a 1976 Olympic gold medalist given a shot at the aging champion, had swarmed and hustled his way to a dismaying upset victory over an undertrained and under-motivated Ali.

This time Ali was ready, trained and determined to reclaim what he saw as his rightful place. Moving, punching and using all his experience to negate Spinks’s attacks, Ali earned a unanimous decision victory and with it became the first three-time heavyweight champion. As he put it, “the triple-greatest of all time!” Muhammad Ali's 10 Greatest Fights: Ali vs. Bonavena, Dec. 7, 1970 Share Richard O'Brien Saturday June 4th, 2016 In the second bout of his comeback after having been banished from boxing for three and a half years following his refusal to be inducted into the military, Ali took on rugged Argentine heavyweight Oscar Bonavena at Madison Square Garden. Though Ali won most of the rounds, it was almost impossible to look good against the awkward Bonavena, and the bout seemed likely to end in a lackluster decision. Then suddenly, in the 15th round, came the mot unlikely of Ali finishes. Flashing a seldom-used left hook, he dropped Bonavena three times in rapid succession, forcing a TKO and instantly igniting the demand for an Ali-Joe Frazier showdown sooner rather than later.

Muhammad Ali's 10 Greatest Fights: Ali vs. Chuvalo, March 29, 1966 Share Richard O'Brien Saturday June 4th, 2016 George Chuvalo, dubbed the Washer Woman by Ali for his stolid workaday approach in the ring, was in fact one of the toughest heavyweights of all time. The Canadian challenger was utterly unafraid of the champion and attacked relentlessly round after round. But Ali was simply far too fast and far too talented. Operating at a level of his own, he coasted to a unanimous 15-round victory. Muhammad Ali's 10 Greatest Fights: Ali vs. Shavers, September 29, 1977 Share Richard O'Brien Saturday June 4th, 2016 Ali was 35 years old and in decline, with his greatest moments behind him. But, against one of the hardest punching heavyweights in history, the old champion showed the depths of the pride and resourcefulness he’d never lose. Hurt badly by Shavers in the second round, Ali rebounded and outboxed Shavers throughout to build a lead on points before Shavers came on again in the later rounds.

Seemingly exhausted going into the 15th and final round, Ali remained victorious by producing a closing flurry that left Shavers wobbling at the bell and the Garden crowd once again in delirium over his Ali magic. Muhammad Ali's 10 Greatest Fights: Ali vs. Ernie Terrell, Feb. 6, 1967 Share Richard O'Brien Saturday June 4th, 2016 In the next-to-last bout before his exile, Ali returned to the Astrodome, following up his tour de force against Cleveland Williams with a grimmer, less dazzling but no less skillful dismantling of challenger Terrell. Angered by Terrell’s refusal to call him Ali, the champion drew out the beating for the full 15 rounds, punctuating the punishment with calls of “What’s my name?” It was cruel and hard to watch, but it was young Ali in top form. Muhammad Ali's 10 Greatest Fights: Ali vs. Liston I, Feb.

25, 1964 Share Richard O'Brien Saturday June 4th, 2016 This was the fight in which Ali, in his own words—shouted so memorably from the ring afterward—“shook up the world.” Liston as champion was an almost cartoonish destroyer. Twice he had dispatched former champion Floyd Patterson in the first round. Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, was viewed as a talented but flawed and overmatched young upstart. Liston would put him in his place. But in the ring, Ali suddenly seemed not only faster but also stronger and far more vital than the suddenly aged Liston. Dancing, circling, jabbing, the young challenger befuddled the champion, cutting him and finally forcing him to quit on his stool. The Kid was now The Champ. Muhammad Ali's 10 Greatest Fights: Ali vs. Joe Frazier I, March 8, 1971 Share Richard O'Brien Saturday June 4th, 2016 After three and a half years of boxing exile, Ali returned to the ring in October of 1970.

Two fights and five months later he faced Joe Frazier at Madison Square Garden in perhaps the most anticipated fight in history. Both men were undefeated. Frazier was at the height of his powers, a relentless wrecking ball. Ali had matured physically during his layoff. Though not as dazzlingly quick as in those years of ’65 through ’67, he now blended a new strength with his inimitable grace. With the world watching, the two fought at a ferocious pace—more suitable for middleweights than for heavyweights—for the full 15 rounds. Showboating, improvising and digging deeper than ever before, Ali hurt Frazier numerous times, but in the end could not slow him down. An iconic left hook in the 15th dropped Ali, and though—astoundingly—he was up again at the count of two, the fight was sealed. Ali had lost for the first time in his career but in the process had risen to even greater heights. Muhammad Ali's 10 Greatest Fights: Ali vs. Williams, Nov.

14, 1966 Share Richard O'Brien Saturday June 4th, 2016 Admittedly, Cleveland Williams, at age 33 and still carrying a bullet from a police shooting the year before, was no longer the fearsome puncher who had earned the nickname Big Cat and engaged in two slugfests with a prime Sonny Liston. But it hardly mattered. Williams was simply a large body against whom the young Ali—just 24—could demonstrate his astonishing artistry. That night in the Astrodome, Ali dazzled with speed, grace and cascades of spectacular precision punching to score a third-round TKO. It is hard to imagine any heavyweight in history keeping up with the Ali of that night. Muhammad Ali's 10 Greatest Fights: Ali vs. Frazier III, Oct. 1, 1975, Manila Share Richard O'Brien Saturday June 4th, 2016 Both men were past their primes in this third meeting between these two ultimate rivals. But both were still vital and enormously proud, and together in the brutal heat of Manila they produced one of boxing’s most epic matches.

The bout see-sawed back and forth, with both fighters taking and giving tremendous punishment. Ali called the struggle “the closest thing to dying,” yet he willed himself on and in the end prevailed when Frazier’s trainer, Eddie Futch, kept his fighter on his stool at the start of the 15th round, saying, “Sit down, son, no one will forget what you did here today.” Indeed, no one who saw the Thrilla in Manila will forget what either man did. Muhammad Ali's 10 Greatest Fights: Ali vs. Foreman, Oct. 30, 1974, Zaire Share Roots of Fight - Ali vs Frazier Thrilla in Manila. - YouTube Roots of Fight - Ali vs Frazier Thrilla in Manila. Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later.

Published on Oct 1, 2013 Roots of Fight - Ali vs Frazier Thrilla in Manila feat Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini with insights from Mike Tyson, Randy Couture, George Chuvalo and Mark Munoz. Roots of Fight is proud to celebrate the greatest heavyweight boxing match of all time with a short documentary and capsule collection of apparel commemorating the final fight in Muhammad Ali and Smokin' Joe Frazier's epic trilogy. The two hall of fame champions met in the squared circle for the last time on October 1st, 1975 at the Araneta Coliseum, in Quezon City, Philippines. They split their two previous encounters, both unanimous decisions and each managed to lose just once more heading into the rubber match -- Ken Norton beat Ali via split decision, and George Foreman knocked out Frazier. Ali would reclaim his heavyweight title by defeating Foreman in "The Rumble in the Jungle," thus setting the stage for one of the most anticipated boxing matches of all time.

For 42 grueling minutes, in 120-degree heat, the two warriors left their hearts in the ring, with Ali often employing his now familiar rope-a-dope strategy and Frazier coming in low to land his thunderous hooks to the body and head of the aging champion. The fight wore on at a frantic pace, with neither man significantly ahead on the judges' scorecards. In between rounds 14 and 15, Frazier's trainer Eddie Futch had deemed his fighter had enough and threw in the towel, ending the battle and awarding Ali the victory. The fight took its toll physically on both Ali and Frazier and neither were ever as great again as they were that morning in Manila. Category "Thrilla in Manila" third match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier | World History Project Oct 1 1975 "Thrilla in Manila" third match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier The Thrilla in Manila was the third and final famous boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier for the Heavyweight Boxing Championship of the World, fought at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines on October 1, 1975.

The bout is often ranked as one of the greatest fights of 20th century boxing, and is the climax to the bitter rivalry between Ali and Frazier over who was the legitimate Heavyweight Champion. That situation came about after Ali was stripped of the title over his refusal to join the armed forces when drafted during the Vietnam war. Some years later after repeated weekly prodding from Ali, Frazier petitioned President Nixon to restore Ali's right to box thereby bringing about the so called Fight of the Century between two undisputed heavyweight champions in 1971. During the whole period between their first and their last face-off in Manila, including the years which preceded the restoration of Ali's right to fight, Ali had used his wit, sharp tongue, and position with the press to take characteristic verbal pot shots at Frazier (as was his practice with all opponents—and which made good copy and controversy) but these became controversial and at times ugly, after his loss in the Fight of the Century, and this verbal battery heated the rivalry into new territory. Both boxers battled each other into near incapacity, and Frazier's trainer determined he should stop the bout after the fourteenth round, so the decision went to Ali as a technical knockout (TKO).

The early and middle parts of the fight were close, with spectacular ebb and flow, and in the later rounds things gradually swung Ali's way in the scoring for any likely decision. The final match up between Ali and Frazier was ultimately detrimental to the health of both fighters. The first fight in 1971 between these two pugilists went fifteen rounds and the second fight going 12 rounds, which were both similarly hard on the participants. At 10:45 AM, with a morning fight to coincide with international TV audiences, the bell for Round 1 rang. Ali had previously told his trainers that he was going to "put a whuppin'" on Joe Frazier, and he started the fight looking to do just that. Frazier was known for starting fights slowly, and Ali came out looking to use that to his advantage. Rather than dance and use his speed to stay away from Frazier, Ali came out and walked flat footed to the center of the ring and then proceeded to unleash a flurry of combinations on Frazier, who was hurt a number of times by Ali's onslaught, including staggering backwards several times in the first few rounds.

However, to the amazement of Ali and many watching, Frazier continued to come forward, intent on punishing Ali's body at close range despite having to take more and more of the withering punishment Ali was dishing out. According to Pacheco, Ali, who wanted to make it a short fight, grew so frustrated with Frazier's refusal to go down or stop coming forward that he screamed "You stupid chump, you!" at Frazier in the fourth round. As Ali began to tire from all the energy he had expended in the searing heat, Frazier turned up his own offense and began punishing Ali to the body and the head with his trademark hooks. By the sixth round, Frazier had staggered him in turn and seemed to be gaining control of the bout. At the beginning of the seventh round, Ali reportedly whispered in Frazier's ear, "Joe, they told me you was all washed up" Frazier growled back, "They told you wrong, pretty boy."[4] Frazier seemed to dominate the middle rounds.

Ali tried to fend Frazier off with occasional furious flurries of punches, spurts of manic activity, and even unsuccessfully tried to use the rope-a-dope technique that had defeated George Foreman nearly a year earlier, but it was all negated by Frazier's relentless assault and power. Ali's camp seemed to have overlooked the fact that Frazier's smothering fighting style, which employed great numbers of left hooks, was in many ways, the perfect foil for Ali. Between the terrific heat inside the stadium, Frazier's assault and his own nonchalant training, it began to seem that Ali would wilt and fall to defeat. Finally, in the tenth round, Frazier began to slow down and tire, and Ali slowly turned the tide. In the 11th round he used his speed to dance more, and to unload a series of fast combinations on Frazier, which severely bruised his face by the end of the round, swelling Frazier's eyes to the point that nothing but a tiny slit remained open. Throughout round 12 Ali continued to turn the momentum, increasingly overwhelming Frazier, and using the fact that Frazier could no longer see Ali's right hand coming to hit Frazier with one hard right after another.

About a minute into Round 13, Ali landed another blistering combination on Frazier, sending the injured fighter's mouthguard flying into the crowd. During the next two minutes Ali relentlessly kept after Frazier, the mouthguard not being replaced until the bell, hitting Frazier with hard combinations when Frazier wasn't throwing punches, and when Frazier did throw, Ali used the openings left to inflict yet more damage. Frazier's mouth was badly cut by the end of this round. Frazier's trainer, Eddie Futch, wanted to stop the fight at this point. Frazier, however, refused, asking his coach to give him one more round. In round 14, Frazier was almost blind as he stepped in, and was met once more with punishing blows from Ali. It was later revealed that Frazier actually had a cataract in his left eye and so, with the punishment from Ali closing his right eye, Frazier was effectively fighting blind in the last rounds of the fight.

By the 14th round Frazier was virtually helpless, and although Ali was desperately tired and hurting, he was able to summon the energy once again to give Frazier a fierce beating, and once again Frazier was staggered and nearly knocked down before the bell ended the round. Seeing the grisly results of round 14, Eddie Futch decided to stop the fight between rounds rather than risk a similar or worse fate for Frazier in the 15th. Frazier protested stopping the fight, shouting "I want him boss," and trying to get Futch to change his mind. Futch simply replied, "It's all over. No one will forget what you did here today", and signaled to the referee to end the bout. Ali was therefore declared the victor. He would later claim that this was the closest to dying he had ever been,[4] and also stated, "Joe Frazier, I'll tell the world right now, brings out the best in me.

I'm gonna tell ya, that's one helluva man, and God bless him." In a brief post-fight interview with one of the commentators, Ali announced, "He is the greatest fighter of all times, next to me." Ali later indicated that he was in no condition to go out for the 15th round. He asked trainer Angelo Dundee to cut off his gloves, which would have given Frazier (who wanted the fight to continue) the TKO victory. Thrilla in Manila: Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier 3 | Newsday Click here to read or post comments (Credit: AP/ MITSUNORI CHIGITA) Sweat flies from the head of Joe Frazier as Muhammad Ali connects with a right in the ninth round of their title fight in Manila, Philippines, on Oct. 1, 1975. Ali won the fight on a decision to retain the title. Thrilla in Manila: Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier 3 June 3, 2016 1:38 PM By Robert Cassidy robert.cassidy@newsday.com Advertise here The final installment in the bitter trilogy between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier took place on Oct.

1, 1975, in Manila, Philippines, and was known as “The Thrilla in Manila.” Ali coined the phrase during the pre-fight buildup, often taunting Frazier by saying “it will be a killer, and a thriller and a chiller when I beat the gorilla in Manila.” The action inside the ring was brutal. Ali was 33 and Frazier 31. Both men were considered past their prime. That is one reason many speculate the fight was so violent. Their reflexes and speed were fading, but the determination and pride that made them great champions still existed. The fight took place at 10 a.m. local time, to accommodate the closed-circuit TV audience in the U.S. The early start somewhat spared the fighters from Manila’s searing heat, although it was estimated that the temperature in the ring was close to 100 degrees. It was a seesaw battle, with Frazier dominating the middle rounds. But as the fight continued, Ali began to take control. With Frazier’s left eye swollen shut, his corner finally stopped the fight heading into the 15th round. Frazier protested and was on his feet, ready to fight when the bell rang.

Afterward, Ali said, “It was like death. Closest thing to dying that I know of.” Frazier added, “Man, I hit him with punches that’d bring down the walls of a city.” (Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS/ DEL MUNDO) Heavyweight champion Muhammed Ali, with his brother Rahaman, right, arrive at the Coliseum In Manila, Philippines, the morning of Oct. 1, 1975, one hour ahead of his scheduled time to start title defense against Joe Frazier. (Credit: AP/ km) Muhammad Ali, left, brings his gloves to his face as opponent Joe Frazier delivers a right hook in the second round of their bout in Manila, Philippines at the Coliseum on October 1, 1975. (Credit: AP) Challenger Joe Frazier and champ Muhammad Ali are shoulder to shoulder in the fourth round of their title bout at the Coliseum, Oct. 1, 1975 in Manila, Philippines. ADVERTISEMENT Thrilla In Manila: Classic Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier Fight Turns 40 Thrilla In Manila: Classic Muhammad Ali vs.

Joe Frazier Fight Turns 40 By Charles Poladian On 10/01/15 AT 5:33 PM The third fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, better known as the Thrilla in Manila, took place Oct. 1, 1975. Pictured is Ali after being knocked down by Frazier in their first bout, March 8, 1971. Photo: AFP Joe Frazier handed Muhammad Ali his first loss as a professional boxer March 8, 1971, at New York's Madison Square Garden in what was dubbed the Fight of the Century. After Ali evened up the series Jan. 28, 1974, everything was lined up for a third fight to determine who was the best. In what would be known as the Thrilla in Manila, which Ali hyped with plenty of trash talk, the heavyweights squared off at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Philippines, Oct. 1, 1975. Ali had been suspended from the sport from 1967 to 1970 due to his draft resistance during the Vietnam War.

Ali, stripped of his heavyweight titles, fought to get the belts back. Frazier was the undefeated champion coming into the 1971 fight and Ali had his own unblemished record. Frazier earned a 15-round unanimous decision to retain the heavyweight championship. After suffering his first loss, Ali won 10 straight fights before losing to Ken Norton on March 31, 1973. Frazier won two fights before getting knocked out by George Foreman on Jan. 22, 1973. Ali beat Norton on Sept. 10, 1973, followed by another victory against Rudie Lubbers Oct. 20, 1973. Frazier would bounce back with a win against Joe Bugner to set up a second fight with Ali, on Jan. 28, 1974. Frazier would lose while Ali would go on to defeat Foreman in "the Rumble in the Jungle" on Oct. 30, 1974. By the time the Thrilla in Manila rolled around, the fighters had a strong rivalry. Ali would push the ill will further with incendiary insults, according to the Guardian .

"It will be a killer, and a thriller, and a chiller when I get the gorilla in Manila," Ali said during a press conference. The third Ali-Frazier match had plenty of drama and action. "Ali dominated early, then Frazier, then Ali, before these fast-aging throwbacks entered into a mutual destruction pact, ignoring all consequences, pounding each other with arms steadily drained of sharpness but laden still with bad intentions," the Guardian's Kevin Mitchell wrote of the battle. Ali would gain the upper hand with knockdowns of Frazier in the 13th and 14th rounds. Frazier's trainer, Eddie Futch, would stop the fight before the 15th round. "No one will forget what you did here today," Futch said to Frazier, according to ESPN . Both fighters would retire in 1981.

The Thrilla In Manila Turns 40thrilla in manila, thrilla in manila 40th anniversary, thrilla in manila fight, thrilla in manila video, muhammad ali, joe frazier, ali frazier, muhammad ali vs joe frazier, ii, muhammad ali joe frazier, ali frazier trilogy, fight of the centuryYesGP IBTimes "The Greatest" Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali's Fight vs Joe Frazier, October 1st, 1975... - YouTube "The Greatest" Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali's Fight vs Joe Frazier, October 1st, 1975... Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Oct 10, 2013 Ali then agreed to a third match with Joe Frazier in Manila. The bout, titled "The Thrilla in Manila", was held on October 1, 1975 in temperatures approaching 100 °F (38 °C).

In the first rounds, Ali was aggressive, moving and exchanging blows with Frazier. However, Ali soon appeared to tire and adopted the 'rope-a-dope" strategy, frequently resorting to clinches. During this part of the bout Ali did some effective counter-punching, but for the most part absorbed punishment from a relentlessly attacking Frazier. In the twelfth round, Frazier began to tire, and Ali scored several sharp blows that closed Frazier's left eye and opened a cut over his right eye. With Frazier's vision now diminished, Ali dominated the 13th and 14th rounds, at times conducting what boxing historian Mike Silver called "target practice" on Frazier's head. Still, at the end of the 14th round, Frazier was still standing and Ali appeared exhausted. The fight was stopped when Frazier's trainer, Eddie Futch, refused to allow Frazier to answer the bell for the 15th and final round, despite Frazier's protests. Frazier's eyes were both swollen shut. Ali, in his corner, winner by TKO, slumped on his stool, clearly spent.

An ailing Ali said afterwards that the fight "was the closest thing to dying that I know" and, when later asked if he had viewed the fight on videotape, reportedly said, "why would I want to go back and see Hell?" After the fight he cited Frazier as "the greatest fighter of all times next to me." Category How The Mirror reported the Thrilla In Manila - Muhammad Ali v Joe Frazier - 38 years ago - Mirror Online Get daily updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email Forty years ago today, Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier fought in one of the greatest fights of them all - the Thrilla in Manila. It was the third and final bout in a rivalry that started in 1971, where Frazier defeated Ali in Madison Square Garden. The second, in 1974, Ali fought back with a 12-round decision victory, before 18 months later the pair fought in one of the best bouts in history. And our man was there.

Frank McGhee (1930-2000) was the Mirror's voice of sport for 30 years and covered all of Muhammad Ali's biggest moments in boxing, including this one. His friend Ian Wooldridge of the Daily Mail remembered: "Once, ad libbing his report by telephone from a Ali fight in New York against a pressing deadline, he said to the copy taker: 'Hold on, the applause is so deafening that I'll stop for a minute.' The copytaker replied: 'OK, Frank, but it ain't that bloody great.'" Here is how Frank reported the Thrilla In Manila... This report first appeared in the Daily Mirror on Thursday October 2 1975 under the headline 'It Was Next To Death' If Muhammad Ali's off-the-cuff utterances can ever be believed, we may have seen the last fight of arguably the most fascinating and talented world heavyweight champion of them all. Joe Frazier, the persistent rival he beat mercilessly and magnificently here yesterday to settle all the arguments between and about them, could quit for different reasons. There is, quite simply, nowhere else for Frazier to go in boxing without diminishing himself. And that would be a pity.

This man can claim full share in a performance that for its combination of brutality, bravery and beauty belongs in a special niche in the memory. If we never see either of them again, they will remain unforgettable for it. Video Loading Share this video Watch Next Ali, typically was the more elaborate, Frazier the more basic about what it was like to share that Philippines ring together. "It was next to death," said Ali. "When a fight as hard as this one gets to the 14th round you feel like dying. You feel like quitting. You want to throw up." Frazier said simply: "I couldn't see the punches coming no more. My eyes were both closed at the end. But I wanted to go on." Because he is the man he is, he still pleaded with manager Eddie Futch in the corner before the 15th round: “Don't stop it. Don't stop it. I can still make it." Muhammad Ali punches Joe Frazier (Photo: SIPA PRESS/REX) One hard-bitten photographer, focusing intently on the argument in that corner, swears there were tears trickling from those eyes buried, blind, beneath bruises.

Futch, adamantly the boss in any corner he works, told me: "Joe would go the line with one arm cut off if you asked him to. But I couldn't allow it." He called over the referee Carlos Padilla, said "That’s it" - and cut off Frazier’s gloves. "There was a possibility that Joe could have gone on to be very seriously hurt," said Futch. "He took terrible punishment in the last thirty seconds of the fourteenth round when Ali was able to take deliberate aim and land every time. “Not even the world heavyweight championship is worth risking the future health of a man like Joe Frazier.” No-one can argue about that. The pride that kept Frazier upright as Ali pounded his grossly distorted, blinded head in that fourteenth round was admirable – but it could have got him killed in the fifteenth. Muhammad Ali beats Joe Frazier in the fight that became known as 'The Thrilla In Manila' (Photo: Sipa Press/REX) The only consolation left for Frazier is that Ali was even more exhausted afterwards.

It was almost an hour before the world heavyweight champion appeared from his dressing-room, leaning on the shoulders of two aides, to say: “I'm sore all over. My arms, my face, my sides all ache. I'm so, so tired. “There is a great possibility that I will retire. You might have seen the last of me. “I want to sit back and count my money, live in my house and my farm, work for my people and concentrate on my family.” “Let Ken Norton and George Foreman or whoever fight for the title. I’m sick of it.” He may, of course, change his mind – he quite frequently does – and have one more big one. Ali was both generous and patronising about Frazier. “He is greater than I thought he was. “With a style like he has to be great. Only he could get away with it, be successful with it. Any other fighter outside myself would have been beaten by him. (Photo: Action Images) “We’re a couple of old war-horses who have made a lot of money together.

Without him I wouldn’t be the man I am today and without me he wouldn’t be he wouldn’t be who he is.” “I’ll never fight him again though. It’s too hard. “I tell you this. If I had taken the punches he took, I'd have gone home much earlier." There is more than a grain of truth in that. It was only Frazier’s relentless determination which kept him moving constantly forward into punishment so severe that Ali's gloves were distorted out of shape by the end. It was almost as though Joe were trying to prove that my opponent can be bigger, more skilful, punch just as hard, and yet be a lesser man, by the imposition of a superior will. The snag is that Ali has considerable will-power too. As early as the first round Frazier wobbled briefly on those almost grotesquely thick legs from the concussing effect of a superb left hook high on his head. Yet he summoned up a genuine grin of pure delight for Ali at the end of the session. He honestly seems to get a kick out of proving his strength by taking a whack and going on. Frazier had plenty of chances to prove that in this fight.

A courageous and knowledgeable Filipino referee, who wouldn’t let Ali get away with more than brief clinches, kept the fight going – and in the end did Frazier no favours by doing so. It merely meant the man had to take more punches. In fact the clear impression Ali succeeded in creating was that even the good minutes and the good rounds Frazier had were with his own contemptuous co-operation. Frazier usually came into it most effectively only when Ali covered up, took a breather and allowed his challenger to pummel away at his ribs and forearms. Both judges and referee scored it to Ali overwhelming margins - 66-60, 67-62, 66-62 – and my own scorecard was nine rounds to Ali, three to Frazier and two even. Ali didn't escape unscathed of course. No man was ever born who could fight Frazier for nearly an hour without having some bruises to count. Until the very last Joe was always plodding relentlessly through everything Ali threw at him, to land the occasional leaping left hook or thudding, clubbing right. Whenever it happened, Ali tended to overdo the pretence of not being hurt.

He felt those punches all right. Muhammad Ali beats Joe Frazier in the fight that became known as 'The Thrilla In Manila' (Photo: Sipa Press/REX) The main turning point of the fight came very late – if you ignore Ali's ridiculous assertion afterwards that he himself wanted to quit in the tenth (if he did he kept it a secret from the men in his corner). It came midway through the thirteenth round when one of two tremendous right-hand smashes at the gum shield sailing out of Frazier's mouth. The sight of this man actually moving backwards seemed to inspire Ali. I swear he hit Frazier with thirty tremendous punches – each one as hard as those which knocked out George Foreman in Zaire – during the fourteenth round. He was dredging up all his own last reserves of power to make sure there wouldn't have to be a fifteenth round. Much has been made of Ali's spectacular collapse at the finish – which will amuse students of the man. For the last few fights he has made a habit of doing just this, knowing it gives his corner-men an opportunity to straddle his prone body against the ring invasion of his fans.

There is nothing more to it than that – and there was nothing more to it than that yesterday. poll loading

Question: Boxing 1975. Who did Muhammad Ali beat in the 'Thrilla in Manila'?
Answer: Joe Frazier